I will tear down my barns and build larger ones.

“Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!” (Luke 12: 19).

Sunday of the 18th week in Ordinary Time. The Scriptures invite us in the words of the 2nd Reading from Colossians 3 to seek what is above where Christ is. In the 1st Reading from Ecclesiastes, we hear that all things are vanity. God indeed has created man for Himself and made his heart restless until it rests in God Himself.

"How happy are the poor in spirit:
theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5: 3).

In today's Gospel, Jesus instructs us with the parable of the Rich Fool. When the Fool discovers that his business has succeeded beyond his wildest expectations, his instinct is not to donate to the local charities. "I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods." Many Church Fathers commenting on this parable see the consequences of unbridled materialism.

The Scriptures teach that "Man does not live on bread alone" and points to the impossibity of a man trying to drag a camel through the tiny gate of the city. Fool! This very night your soul will be demanded of you.

The Eucharist kills the temptation to greed and materialism.
"I am the bread of life, says the Lord; whoever comes to me will not hunger and whoever believes in me will not thirst." (John 6: 35).

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

Herod beheaded John.

[Herod] had John beheaded in the prison." (Matthew 14: 10).

Saturday of the 17th week in Ordinary Time. John the Baptist becomes the first casualty of the ministry of Jesus Christ.

"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10: 28). The disciples of Jesus might have thought of this as a hyperbole. Now it has happened. What may follow?

"The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,” Jesus said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.” (Luke 9: 22).

By the time this happened, the faith and the resolve of the disciples had been shaken to its foundation. The "Promise of the Father" would come to the rescue in the person of the Holy Spirit to instill life into the disciples. By the time Herod laid hands on James, Bishop of Jerusalem and one of the first disciples, the new Church was ready for mission.

"Happy those who are persecuted
in the cause of right, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5: 10).
Lord, grant us the grace to accept all the persecutions You send to us.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

8-3

[Herod] had John beheaded in the prison." (Matthew 14: 10).

Saturday of the 17th week in Ordinary Time. John the Baptist becomes the first casualty of the ministry of Jesus Christ.

"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10: 28). The disciples of Jesus might have thought of this as a hyperbole. Now it has happened. What may follow?

"The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,” Jesus said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.” (Luke 9: 22).

By the time this happened, the faith and the resolve of the disciples had been shaken to its foundation. The "Promise of the Father" would come to the rescue in the person of the Holy Spirit to instill life into the disciples. By the time Herod laid hands on James, Bishop of Jerusalem and one of the first disciples, the new Church was ready for mission.

"Happy those who are persecuted
in the cause of right, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5: 10).
Lord, grant us the grace to accept all the persecutions You send to us.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

Where did the carpenter's son get this education?

"Is he not the carpenter’s son?" (Matthew 13: 55).

Friday of the 17th week in Ordinary Time is First Friday in August. The famous home boy comes home for a weekend. Instead of a rousing welcome, He was subjected to indignities. “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?  Is he not the carpenter’s son?" If you are familiar with the Gospels, you will recognize that this is the fate of Jesus from birth to death. He was born humble and was despised by even the masses.

But we know better. We know that “Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day." (Luke 24: 46). We understand the implication of the  necessity of the suffering and humiliation of Jesus the Messiah. We too must suffer and endure humiliations.
What is your reaction? Follow Jesus? Or run?

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

Honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus this Friday August 2.

August 02, 2019 First Friday in August.

Jesus promised 12 special favors to all those who will honor His Sacred Heart especially on the First Friday of every month.  In the 8th month of the year, we look at Promise #8.

#8.  "Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection."

Who are the fervent souls?
The fervent are souls who hear the word of God and keep it. They place the Kingdom of God and holiness of life above every other thing.

Honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Friday, August 2nd.
For the 12 Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, click the link below:

http://sfjweb.com/?q=content/sacred-heart-12-promises

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Feast of St Alphonsus Liguori, a tireless apostle of the Eucharist.

"The kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind.  When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away." (Matthew 13: 47 - 48).

Thursday of the 17th week in Ordinary Time is the feast of St Alphonsus Liguori (1696 to 1787), Bishop and Doctor of the Church. Started life as a prominent lawyer before he became a priest. He was distinguished for the following reasons: Founder of the Redemptorist Order. "He was given the title of Doctor of the Church for his writings on Moral Theology. A tireless apostle of the Eucharist and of our Blessed Mother, he worked with great zeal for the poor and sick." (Roman Missal). 

The Church is the seed of the Kingdom of God. (CCC) The Church looks like the collection of fish of every kind. The Church of the living God, the Seed of the Kingdom of God on earth will retain the characteristics of the kingdom of David, a type and shadow of the Kingdom of God on earth. King David himself is the sinner-in-chief. St Peter, Head of the Apostles is also a sinner-in-chief. Sorry Martin Luther, John Calvin and company. There was no Apostasy. At no time was the Church a perfect institution. Everything has happened and is happening according to the design and foreknowledge of God.

At the end of the world "The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth." (Matthew 13: 49 - 50). This is the plan. So far everything is going according to plan because God is Almighty, Sovereign and in Control.

"Open our heart, O Lord, to accept the words of your Son." (Acts 16: 14).

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

Feast of St Ignatius Loyola

"The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls.  When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it." (Matthew 13: 45 - 46).

Wednesday of the 17th week in Ordinary Time is the feast of St Ignatius Loyola (1491 - 1556) Priest and Founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). The word to live by today appears written for St Ignatius Loyola. A brash and ambitious young man looking for a world to conquer. Search and you shall find, says the Lord. What Ignatius found was a Pearl of Great Price. To purchase this Pearl, Ignatius must sell All he has to buy this Pearl.

This Pearl that demands All Ignatius has is Jesus. Ignatius was willing to pay the price. The Lord embraced him and made him great amongst men. Ignatius founded the Society of Jesus, a religious order that is relevant in the battle for souls and development of the world, making first class contributions in the field of science, art, culture and social studies all over the world.

What did St Ignatius Loyola bequeath the Church of the living God?
#1 Spiritual Exercises
#2 Methods of examination of conscience
#3 Methodology of Education

This prayer of St Ignatius Loyola shows the inner principles that drive him:

"Lord Jesus, grant that I may know Your heart intimately, love You passionately and follow You everywhere." Amen.

Needless to say, it pleased the Lord Jesus to grant St Ignatius Loyola this prayer.
St Ignatius Loyola pray for us.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

God is gracious and merciful?

"So the Lord passed before him and proclaimed: The Lord, the Lord, a God gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love and fidelity, continuing his love for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin." (Exodus 34: 6 - 7).

Tuesday of the 17th week in Ordinary Time is the feast of St Peter Chrysologus (406 - 450), Bishop and Doctor of the Church. Who is Peter Chrysologus? "As Bishop of Ravenna, Italy, he was famous for his outstanding skill in preaching (thus the nickname Chrysologus, or "the golden worded"), for his charities, and for his writings." (Roman Missal).

In our key Scripture for today, we see the self revelation of God as:
"gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love and fidelity, continuing his love for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin." Is this how you see God? In case we imagine that this is an isolated trait of God's character, this is typical trait of God and continues in the Responsorial Psalm:

"The Lord is compassion and love,
slow to anger and rich in mercy.
His wrath will come to an end; he will not be angry for ever.

"He does not treat us according to our sins nor repay us according to our faults.
For as the heavens are high above the earth so strong is his love for those who fear him." (Cf Psalm 103: 6 - 13).

We have above the true character of God. He is also just. Both our first Reading from Exodus 34 and the Gospel reading from Matthew 13 did not forget that God is  just:

The Lord does not declare the "guilty guiltless" (Exodus 34: 7).

"The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers." (Matthew 13: 41).

"The word of the Lord remains for ever:
What is this word?
It is the Good News that has been brought to you." (1 Peter 1: 25).

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

Feast of St Martha, Queen of Hospitality.

"Jesus entered a village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home." (Cf. Luke 10: 38).

Monday of the 17th week in Ordinary Time is the feast of St Martha. Martha, the hospitality Queen. Martha's Vineyard, the home of good food appreciated by Jesus. Along with St Mary Magdalene whose feast we celebrated last Monday and St Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose feast was Friday, July 26th, we have three great women of the Bible and of salvation history. The Bible  teaches that the Church is "the pillar and foundation of truth." The Church of the living God is strong and robust through the ages because of the testimony of women like Martha, Mary Magdalene, Anne, Teresa of Avila, Catherine of Siena, Therese of the Child Jesus, Teresa of Kolkata, etc.

Jesus honored Martha by coming to her house as a guest. Do you realize that Jesus wants to honor you today by coming to your heart in Holy Communion?

"Martha said to Jesus:
You are the Christ, the Son of God,
who is coming into this world." (John 11: 27). Great act of faith!

Do you believe this? Faith in Jesus as God is eternal life here and now.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com